Q. How did you feel to see North Korea and South Korea unite together as one and walk together at the opening ceremony?
Lauren Burns: "I really remember that moment. I remember North and South Korea matching out together as one. And I remember feeling like this is a really historical moment and that didn't pass me by. And I think that's one of the things about the Olympic games. Is it sort of, it's about uniting the world. It's about everyone coming together and, you know, sport is sort of the vehicle to do that, but the Olympics have always sort of had a political there's things where we can highlight humanity and all coming together as one. So I do remember that as being really significant and it was wonderful to see that happening and Taekwondo, debuting on that, that same stage."
Q. So then if you could recap that special moment of victory when you were crowned Australia's first ever taekwondo gold medallist?
Lauren Burns: "I really expected to win. So I was going there to win. I knew that if I did my best, that I could meet the girls that were in my weight division, I'd studied them. I'd fought against them. We were all quite similar a lot of levels. So anyone could have taken it really in terms of their ability, but I was going there to win and I was just so focused.
"And there are a lot of strategies in taekwondo. That's one of the things I love about it. It's like a game of chess. So I thought so much about my opponents, studied them, there were so much strategy. But when you get there on the day, you kind of have to just put that all aside and trust that you'll make the right decision in the ring."
Q. Have you ever been to North or South Korea?
Lauren Burns: South Korea we've travelled there so often. So the first time that I went, I think was in early 94 or maybe it was late 93 and that was quite a challenging experience because it was so cold and I've never tried it.
It's just, and because we went to, we used to train a lot at Yong-In university, so, you know, a martial arts university. So again, I'd never seen anything like that here in Australia where you've got, the wrestlers and the judo players and the Taekwondo players, and everyone's training out in the snow at -15.
So it was quite a cultural shock that first time. And then the next time I went back was for, it was a demonstration event for the IOC put on when we were going for the bid for Sydney. And I actually won that tournament. And it was probably the first time that I thought that I could, that I had something that I could, you know, make the team or be medal potential. Probably I wasn't thinking gold medal at that point, but I was thinking, and then I think I went back another 12 times.
Q. How do you find Korean food?
Lauren Burns: "I love Korean food so much, so I make my own kimchi, but I have to make it traditionally because I like that there's a particular flavour and I don't like the store-bought ones as much….
"I love Korean food and we just, we would always often we go there for a month at a time or three weeks. We were just immersed in the area that we were living in, all the restaurants that we go to and the food we were often eating the same kind of thing, bibimbap is my absolute favorite and I've got my daughter, my daughter eats kimchi. My son's not so much."
Q. What does Korea mean to you?
Lauren Burns: "And I really, as I said, Korea holds a very dear part of my heart and it's somewhere that really challenged me and I learnt a lot. Every time I went to Korea, I grew so much in my Taekwondo training. And then I just developed a love for the country and the food and the culture. And it's somewhere that I desperately want to go back."
